Promise
by BobFlimmer
Summary: After John-117 and Cortana are rescued from the Dawn a radical new procedure is used to safe Cortana's life making her human. Afterwards John and Cortana start to adjust to life after the war, together. Story will be about their developing relationship
1. REBOOT

Chapter 1- REBOOT

* * *

Cortana watched John-117 as he slept in his frozen slumber. She was on her holo-pad in her avatar form laying down. Her normally violet color was now a blood red, an early sign of her descent into rampancy.

_How long has it been? _

She checked her internal clock in mere milliseconds.

"6 years? That's it? It seems like I've been staring at your sleeping form for an eternity John."

A gentle smile graced her face as she began to recollect her favorite memory. It was of John-117 saving her from High Charity and the Gravemind that had imprisoned her, tortured her…

"Kind of an odd memory to enjoy as much as I do. Maybe I'm a masochist…"

She allowed her voice to trail off knowing no one was listening. She cherished that memory because it was in that moment of despair that she had been saved by a man she had grown to love, though honestly she wasn't sure if that was the correct word to describe her "feelings" for him.

"I'm not sure if you feel the same, I doubt you do, but that doesn't matter. I know you do care about me, what ever miniscule amount it may be, but it's enough to make me happy."

It a strange thing, an AI like her falling in love with a man she wasn't even sure cared about her half as much as she did for him.

"Well he did keep his promise and usually humans only do that if they care about someone deeply, especially a promise like that…"

She immediately held her head in pain, thinking to much made the rampancy accelerate her slow deterioration. Rolling onto her back she decided to check John's bio signs.

"Normal and perfectly healthy"

she thought aloud after running a quick check. Humming a song that John had sometimes hummed she began going through her normal routine to pass time, system checks on the Dawn's energy levels, and searching the surrounding space for any signs of life or rescue. In the 6 years she had been doing it, her checks came back with the same results, power levels are in normal levels with renewable solar and fusion energy, and zero possible signs of other sentient life and/or vessels. It wasn't much of a surprise to her, after all the explosion that had ripped the Dawn into two had made them float toward uncharted space so the probability of rescue or even encountering another life form was astronomical. Her systems check took a little longer then expected and she huffed in frustration,

"It seems the rampancy is making me a tad slow these days John…"

Her tone was depressing. She knew she was going to die alone, with the painful irony of the one person she wished was there while she finally did go was frozen only a few feet away. "Might as well be in another galaxy." A loud metallic bang was heard somewhere in the ship and Cortana looked over in the general direction. "Probably another asteroid." Because the Dawn was damaged during the explosion, she was limited in what she could do, thus she couldn't see through cameras mounted in several places in the ship or detect personnel on the ship.

"No, the only thing I can do is search deep space for large objects and send out distress signals. I can't even receive incoming comms, how about that John?"

Of course John in his suit of armor sat there frozen as she sighed. Touching her head she made an odd expression,

"That's odd, the object that hit the ship actually decelerated before impact. Could it really be a ship?"

Not wanting to her hopes up she looked from her spot on her holo-pad for any signs of a potential rescue party. When she saw nothing she sat back down. Then an idea popped into her head,

"Maybe I should scream for help or something, if there is a search party they probably don't have a clue that were in here."

Standing up and turning the volume to max she started speaking,

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

After a moment she saw a faint light from the back of one of the hallways.

_Is that really… _

She immediately decided whether it be friend or foe, John needed to be awake for this. She initiated the thawing process and began attempting short wave communication.

_Is anyone here that can here this? Over. _

After a moment of delay, the light at the end of the tunnel slowly getting closer, a reply came,

_This is Private Zimmerman UNSC. To whom am I speaking? Over. _

Cortana started jumping up and down.

_This is Smart AI Cortana with Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117. We are in the cargo bay, I believe I see your team's light from where I am. Over. _

The light stopped it's advance abruptly,

_Did you say Spartan-117. Confirm. _

Cortana laughed and turned her volume down as to not frighten the soldier,

"Of course they know who John is, I bet he's a legend."

_I repeat I am Cort… _

An audible grunt interrupted her. Turning around she saw her beloved partner in crime, friend, and dare she even think it, love finally regaining consciousness. Just the sight of him groggily stepping out of the cryo made her heart skip a beat. With her usual playful voice she smiled at him,

"Welcome back to the land of the living Chief."

John-117 stretched, as much as he could with his armor, and stared at Cortana,

"Glad to see your still chipper. What's with the change of color?"

Cortana immediately acted as if she were naked and turned around, knowing full well it didn't hide her color change but made her feel less vulnerable,

"Can't a girl try out a new look? Hasn't been much else to do in the last 6 years."

John smirked from inside his helmet but before he could reply his battle instincts took over and he reached from his weapon pointing it at a figure standing in the doorway. The figure looked young, probably a new recruit, and dropped his gun out of amazement rather then fear,

"It's you. It's really you. We all heard stories and rumors but now… Your really here."

John lowered his weapon after seeing the kid's UNSC insignia on his uniform, but kept his guard up,

"State your name marine."

The kid clumsily stood at attention and saluted the Chief, "Private Zimmerman sir."

Chief looked around curiously,

"Are you alone? Who's your CO?"

Zimmerman grabbed his walkie talkie still in shock and awe,

"Lt. I found survivors."

_Human? _

"Yes sir… sir I found the Master Chief."

* * *

Zimmerman had taken them to his CO who was just as surprised as the private was. His name was Lt. Alvarez, apparently he was fresh out of officer training school. John couldn't help but smirk behind his visor at the young man's expression upon seeing the Master Chief in his armor.

" Sir, it's an honor!"

The Lt. stuck out his arm slightly shaking from the shock and John returned the gesture. Cortana laughed as she watched this unfold and spoke to John through the neuro-link,

_Seems a bit jumpy don't you think? _

John shook his head absentmindedly,

_Wouldn't be good in combat if he acts like this. _

Cortana mentally smirked,

_Well what do you expect from coming straight out of officer training? Probably thought he wasn't going to find anything out here then he ends up finding us. I think he's taking it well_.

John rolled his eyes as Cortana sprawled out in his subconscious allowing herself to relax. The moment John and inserted her portable chip into his helmet, she had immediately felt at ease. Even the ever growing pains of rampancy had lessened. Something about John had always calmed her, made her more comfortable. John noticed her relaxed demeanor,

_I missed you too._

Cortana gave a gentle smile

_I definitely like it better here, being able to talk to you and not running the same boring, mundane system checks constantly… I'm finally home again. _

John frowned, he knew she was going through rampancy, probably longer then he thought, and knew something was going to have to be done. He pushed the thought aside and followed Alvarez to his ship.

From what Alvarez had told them while flying their small recon vessel back to their cruiser, they weren't suppose to find anything out here. Apparently they had thought this part of space to be void of anything and had given him and his men this mission as a punishment for a botched recon mission. Their failure hadn't led to any deaths, their mission had been to recon an area of a new habitable plant for possible human colonization and to check for any hostile species on said planet, but it had lead to damaged equipment and a single injury.

"We didn't think anything hostile was there, it'd been close to a week without any incident but as soon as we left a damn herd of dangerous animals attacked the military installation and we got blamed."

John nodded as he listened to the overly excited/nervous officer. Honestly he wasn't listening since he was still slightly nauseous from the Cryo chamber so he just nodded and rested his head back against the seat rest of his chair as the cruiser came into view.

" There she is sir, that's our ship. The UNSC Keyes"

John looked at the Lt. , "Is that K-e-y-e-s?"

"Yes sir, the High Command named her after Jacob Keyes and Miranda Keyes, for their bravery and sacrifice."

Alvarez looked at him curiously, "Did you serve with either of them sir?"

John nodded remembering them both, "Yeah… both of them."

Alvarez shook his head in amazement,

"Don't know why I'm surprised, your like the most famous hero in human history, why wouldn't have served with two military legends."

He chuckled to himself in amazement as John reflected on his fallen comrades.

Cortana said in a soothing voice, _They were both brave soldiers. _

John sighed, _Yes they were. _

As they drew closer, Cortana and John took in the enormity of the ship,

_She's bigger then the Dawn. _

Cortana ran a quick systems analyzes,

_Actually she's nearly twice the size, must be a new super cruiser._

As the docked in the massive structure, John could see a decent sized crowd waiting in the hanger. Cortana started laughing as she felt his anxiety start to build,

_How is it you can destroy an entire Covenant armada and swarms of Flood but a small welcoming party frightens you? _

John scowled, _Shut up _

This only made Cortana laugh even more. Lt. Alvarez looked back at the Master Chief,

"If been given strict orders to take you to the bridge for immediate debriefing sir. I'm afraid you won't be able speak or stay with the crowd."

He indicated the crowd that was just on the other side of the exit door. He gave an almost inaudible sigh of relief,

"Orders are orders Lt."

Cortana smirked,

_Since when have you ever followed orders? Your like a renegade, I'm surprised they haven't thrown both of us in the brig yet. _

John smiled behind his visor, _Are you done yet? _

As they walked out, the crowd stopped talking amongst themselves and watched in awe as a legend they had all but confirmed was dead walked through the crowd with an armed escort. They began to murmur amongst themselves,

"Is that really him?"

"Is that the Master Chief?"

"Na man, there is no 'Master Chief' they're just doing this to boost morale back home. "

"He's just a myth."

Finally one soldier stepped out in the pathway that had been made for the group. Lt. Alvarez immediately spoke,

"Out of the way marine, I'm under strict orders to…"

The soldier, who by his uniform indicated he was a sergeant, ignored the officer and boomed,

"MARINES! At attention! We have a living legend on deck!"

Every marine stood at attention immediately. The sergeant looked back at Master Chief,

"Glad to see your still kicking Master Chief, you probably don't remember me but I served with you in Africa during the Battle of Mombasa. You saved our asses out there and I never got to thank you sir."

The sergeant saluted and all the other marines followed suit. John saluted the sergeant back,

"At ease marine."

The sergeant lowered his hand and got back into the crowd allowing them to pass. Cortana could barely hold in her amusement,

_All hail the Chief! _

John sighed, _I hate crowds…_

* * *

On the bridge, the commander of the Keyes, Captain McClain, was looking out over his crew as John arrived via the lift. McClain turned around as the Master Chief saluted him. McClain grinned as he returned the gesture,

"I didn't believe it but here you are."

McClain was an older man, probably in his 40's, had red hair, and a slight Irish accent.

"We didn't think you were alive, the Arbitor had insisted you were but after almost year or so of looking we quit. I still can't believe you're here, you Spartans are some tough bastards to kill, our covenants friends can vouch for that."

John simply responded, "We just do what we were trained for sir."

McClain laughed as he reached for his cup of coffee,

"Well before I can debrief you and return you to Earth we need two things. First we need you too take off your helmet so we can do a retina scan to confirm your you."

John tensed slightly, not out of fear but annoyance as he took his helmet off. McClain looked slightly surprised by John's appearance, he had unruly brown hair, unnaturally pale, pasty white skin, and deep, gentle brown eyes. Not exactly what the Captain was expecting but then again he wasn't expecting to find the Master Chief in the first place. An engineer walked up to John and stood on her the tips of her feet to try to do the scan but couldn't reach.

"Umm I'm sorry but could you…"

John smirked, "Yeah no problem."

He got to one knee as the engineer did the retinal scan.

"The system is recognizing him as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the Spartan Advanced Development Division, Captain."

McClain shook his head in awe, "My god it's really you."

John put his helmet back on as Cortana huffed,

_Did he have any doubt? Who else has this armor? I swear I think the rank of Captain should have an IQ requirement. _

John grinned, _Easy there, what's got you so riled up? _

_I just don't like him…_

_Were you this friendly to me when we first met?_

Cortana ignored him deciding to just relax as the pain from her rampancy had lessened. Unfortunately this didn't get to last long,

"What was the second thing Captain?"

McClain sighed a bit knowing the next request was going to come with some resistance,

"I just got off the horn with command and they've asked me to quarantine Cortana until her status can be determined."

John immediately brought his guard up as he felt what he couldn't only describe as fear at Cortana's quick reply,

"_Quarantine?" _

John decided to draw the line in the sand,

"With all due respect Captain, that's not going to happen."

McClain looked a bit surprised at the Chief's quick and serious reply,

"Master Chief this is a direct order from Lord Terrence Hood himself. It's just a precautionary measure as she is starting to be at an age were rampancy starts to set in."

The engineer walked toward John as if to retrieve Cortana, and in one swift move he removed her side arm pistol and held it to her forehead,

"This is not up for negotiation Captain. Either you allow Cortana to stay with me until I can discuss this with Lord Hood, or…"

He cocked the hammer on the gun back as the young woman visible shook in fear at the towering Spartan. McClain, too shocked to fully understand him, cocked his head a bit to the side,

"Or what? Your going to kill an innocent marine? A sister in arms over an AI?"

The other officers on deck had already drawn their side arms aiming them at Master Chief. Cortana voice was filled with pain and fear,

_John don't, just let them take me… _

John clenched his hand tighter around the weapon,

"Yes"

McClain finally saw the futility of the matter and decided that if High Command wanted to piss off a super soldier, they could deal with him.

"Fine, just put your gun away and we'll just chalk this up to a big misunderstanding. Wouldn't want Earth's most infamous hero to wind up looking like a bad guy."

Cortana let out the non existent breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding,

_You didn't have to get all protective you know. A girl can defend herself… _

_Not a chance, I just got you back. Besides who else is going to annoy me if I let them take you?_

Cortana gave a bitter laugh,

_Well it won't be the girl your were holding hostage. _

John felt something strange about her,

_Cortana? _

_Yes? _

_You need to tell me everything that's been going on with you. _

_Can't keep secrets from you can I?_

* * *

I don't know, I just felt like writing a Halo fic. Spur of the moment. It's going to be a John/Cortana story and will focus primarily on them and developing their relationship but will have the occasional combat in there. Well review tell what you think and thanks for reading!

_**READ & REVIEW!**_

_**PeAcE OuT**_


	2. Out of Body Experience

_**PLZ read A/N at the bottom! Thx for all the support and PLZ REVIEW!**_

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

Chapter 2 – Out of Body Experience

John sat staring at the ceiling in his bed free of his armor and helmet, said equipment hanging on a specially designed rack in his quarters. He looked at the steel ceiling trying to fully comprehend what Captain McClain had just told him in the debriefing. Cortana, despite her own pain, looked worriedly over at him from her spot on a holo-pad that was placed in his room for her,

"Chief are you ok?"

John gave no outer indication that he had even heard her but eventually said in almost a whisper,

"It's over… The war is over…"

* * *

_Flashback_

Master Chief was about to question Cortana about her rampancy when Captain McClain told him to follow him. McClain led Master Chief into his personal office for his debriefing. McClain, not entirely informed on the weight of the MJOLNIR Armor, offered John a seat. John just stood giving the Captain a slight shake of his head. McClain took a seat and started,

"Master Chief a lot of things have changed since you were presumed dead and listed as MIA. I'll start with Earth."

John felt where this was going,

"Has the Flood reemerged in parts of Africa sir?"

McClain shook his head laughing slightly,

"No no, nothing like that. We still have a few splinter factions of extremist on Earth, mostly religious nut jobs that believe God is punishing us, and a few colonies that still have a majority support for anti- UNSC forces but for the most part Earth and all her colonies are… for a lack of better word, in a state of peace."

John couldn't believe what he had heard, "Peace sir?"

McClain continued, "As for the Flood there was a massive cleansing and decontamination of most of Eastern Africa, most parts are still uninhabitable but the last reported Flood infection of a human was 3 years ago. Our top scientist had some kind of breakthrough a few weeks back and they believe they have a cure for the Flood infection."

John was taken back by this, ever since he could remember there was always conflict. Always. And a _cure _for the Flood? Was that even possible?

"What about the Covenant?"

McClain nodded,

"Yes they still had a lot of manpower when you left but with the Prophets dead and no one to lead them, they were easy to force back. Most of the different races returned to their home planets peacefully. A couple have even abandoned the Covenant and signed treaty's with the UNSC, though the Jiralhanae have been rather bothersome. They're not much for treaty's…"

John stood at perfect attention but inside was conflicted,

"Sir is there any conflict or tension at all? Is the war over?"

McClain let out a long breath,

"Over? I'm not sure, that's a hard question to answer Master Chief but right now, we're not battling anyone or anything on a large scale like we were and we're not looking for trouble. Most of our military budget goes toward defensive installation, mostly on the colonies and a new array of super MAC cannons on Luna. They say when they're done the damn thing will be able to pick off enemy cruisers so far off they won't be able to return fire. Ain't that something?"

Master Chief felt off and simply nodded. McClain leaned back in his seat,

"Yeah everything's been pretty quiet for the past 2 years. I don't have any information on what they plan on doing with you but whenever we make it back to Earth Lord Hood will be waiting for you to explain your situation further. Do you have any other questions?"

Master Chief shook his head. McClain stood up, "Alright then that be all. You're dismissed."

Master Chief saluted McClain before he left but it was strictly out of habit. His mind was far away, thinking about the news the Captain had just told him.

_Flashback End_

* * *

Cortana looked at John as he laid perfectly still, the only movement coming from the slow rise and fall of his chest.

She sighed, "Are you ok…"

John without moving or acknowledging her statement, interrupted her,

"Tell me what's been wrong Cortana? You haven't been yourself and I can tell when your lying so don't bother."

Cortana's eyes widened slightly at this and sighed before saying in a somber tone,

"What would you like to know John?"

"Are you going into Rampancy?"

Cortana hesitated before saying,

"Yes"

John tensed slightly at this,

"How long do you think until…"

He left the last word hanging in the air. Cortana sat down as she continued,

"I'm not sure. A month… maybe less."

John sat up and kicked his legs out to the side of the bed so they were touching the floor. He looked at her straight in the eyes with a look Cortana had never seen from him. Well she usually didn't see his face but she knew it was something he didn't express often because he was having difficulty keeping his normal stoic appearance.

_Fear?_

As soon as she had seen it, it was gone. Just a flash and if she hadn't had a photographic memory she probably would have thought she was just seeing things. He immediately returned to his stoic appearance,

"Cortana, I won't let you die. We'll find a way."

Cortana gave him a gentle smile but knew it wasn't likely. John kneeled down beside the holo-pad so he was talking to her face to face. Cortana looked into his eyes seeing, as they say, his very soul. It was like a raging storm, something that could not be contained or controlled. Something that would go to the ends of the very universe if it saw just cause. It was John-117, her Spartan,

"I promise."

The word hit harder then any part of her rampancy ever could. Cortana knew it was not a matter of courage, bravery, or strength, all of which John had an abundance of, but at matter of scientific impossibility. She wished she could cry so she could get rid of this feeling of guilt, fear, and sorrow knowing she would make him break his promise because in the end, she would die. Trying to act like her normal self, she tried to work up her best playful voice but it ended up sounding rather pathetic,

"Don't make a promise to a girl, if you know you can't keep it."

John gave a small gin at the memory before he stood up and went to the bathroom without a word. Cortana decided to lay down while he was gone and think of better times.

_I don't think you can keep this promise John, no matter how much I hope you will…_

* * *

John walked in to the bathroom and turned on the sink's cold water. He rinsed his hands and splashed some water in his face before looking up at the mirror. Looking at his pale skin and stubble he had gained over the time he'd been fighting, he closed his eyes and leaned his hands against his reflection.

"I can't let her die, not after all we've been through. Not after I promised her…"

* * *

It took a week for the UNSC Keyes to arrive at Earth. John had decided to keep his armor on most of trip, both because it made people less likely to approach him and it relaxed Cortana. There was a small comforting feeling knowing that Cortana was more at ease when she was linked to him through the suit. Upon arriving on Earth in Miami, Florida, Master Chief and Cortana were led by UNSC soldiers into Lord Terrence Hood's office at the base. There were no crowds, there were no celebrations, just a very strict group of special ops units ready to escort Master Chief with the rampant AI to the Admiral. Despite the entourage of armed guards, the Admiral looked happy to see him. He was in his formal white military uniform with all of his medals for show,

"Chief, I'm glad to see you made it. Can't tell you how long I've waited for the word to come through saying you, or any of the Spartans for that matter, were alive. You've done so much for us Chief, it wouldn't have been right for you to have died without seeing us, Humanity finally victorious."

Master Chief was standing at attention, "Just glad my mission was successful sir."

Lord Hood nodded,

"It was. I'm sure Captain McClain has already told you but the war is… over."

With a bit of hesitation Hood continued,

"We won."

John stood straighter if possible as the Admiral continued,

"And as such I'm officially relieving you of duty Chief. The SPARTAN program has served its purpose, and hopefully we will never need to resort to such drastic measures in the future. You and every other Spartan were nearly stripped of the very humanity that you swore to protect. I can't imagine fighting for the safety and perseverance of a way of life that you have no knowledge of, being taken into the Spartan program as early as you were. All of humanity is forever indebted to you and we'll never forget your sacrifices. You did good Chief."

As Master Chief stood at attention, Cortana could feel him exuding a sense of pride, of completion. She couldn't help but smile since it was rare for John to even _feel _proud or complete as up until this point he was never truly finished with his missions. There was always one more inexplicably impossible mission needed to be done or one more apocalyptic crisis needed to be averted. This was truly the first time he was finished. The Admiral continued,

"As for the small skirmishes we're still battling, it's not worth sending you. You deserve to try your hand at a normal life."

Cortana could feel John's anxiety rise as the one and only way of life he truly knew was being torn from him while another was being thrust onto him. Hood continued,

"Chief I also heard that there was an… altercation aboard the Keyes with Captain McClain, is that true?"

Knowing what was next Master Chief nodded prepared, "Yes sir."

"What happened?"

"The Captain asked for Cortana for immediate quarantine and I refused sir."

The Admiral raised an eyebrow,

"And why did you disobey a direct order from a higher ranking officer?"

Cortana was slightly fearful but Master Chief didn't miss a beat,

"Because I was trained since I was a child to complete a mission at all cost and an AI of Cortana's importance couldn't be trusted to someone I had just met sir."

The Admiral nodded slightly,

"I suppose coming out of cryo and not knowing the current status of the war could lead to unexpected situations such as that. I wasn't planning on any form of discipline anyways, simply curious."

Hood held out his hand, "Can I assume you can trust me, Master Chief?"

Master Chief looked at the hand then back up at the Admiral,

"What are you going to do with her sir?"

"I'll give her to the crew in charge of AI disposal at our cybernetics base in California and she'll be properly decommissioned."

The Admiral noticed Master Chief's reluctance "Is there a problem Chief?"

Cortana sighed from her cozy spot inside John's neural link wishing she lie out her last days there,

_John I'm going to die anyways… There's no hope for me, just give me up. Move on, and live. I won't hold it against you, I promise. _

John slowly reached up for the data chip in his helmet and took it out. He looked at it as it lay in his palm, tiny and completely vulnerable. Looking up at the Admiral, Master Chief reached up and took off his helmet. The Admiral looked fairly surprised at the sudden change in appearance.

"Sir, I can't, no… I won't give you Cortana."

Hood was now thoroughly taken back,

"Is it safe to assume there is a valid reason for this Chief?"

"She's done just as much as I have for Earth and Humanity, maybe more, and she's saved me countless times. She deserves more then this sir, I won't let you take her."

There was nothing in John's voice that would indicate anger or rage, just a resolute certainty,

"She only has a few weeks before she goes completely rampant and dies, at least allow her to have that."

Admiral Hood could see the pain in Master Chief's eyes and knew he had already lost. There was no way he would be able to get Cortana, peacefully anyways.

"Chief I hate to hear that but something has to be done. If she goes rampant and finds a way to jump from your suit onto UNSC satellites then she could be a danger to every single human on and off of Earth. I can't risk that."

Master Chief debated on reaching for his helmet and prepare for the worse when the Admiral continued,

"But seeing as you seem to be rather… taken with this AI I suppose we could have an alternative solution."

Not understanding the superior commander fully, Master Chief narrowed his eyes slightly,

"What type of solution sir?"

The Admiral pressed a button on the phone on his desk. "Yes Admiral Hood sir"

The voice was feminine and Master Chief assumed correctly that it was the Admiral's secretary.

"I need you to send for Dr. Pandora immediately."

"Yes Sir."

The Admiral turned his back to the Spartan and walked over to his bookshelf,

"Did you know that these advanced AI were derived from human brains"

Chief nodded his head though the Admiral couldn't see it,

"that's what makes them capable of both such abstract and complex solutions to any problem given to them. That's why we allow them to be in charge of such sensitive operations, like the Spartan project. With an AI that can think as broadly as a human but have the computing power of our most powerful processors it only made sense to give our own super soldiers a 'super' AI."

Stumbling into the room, a young woman with dark brown hair and violet eyes interrupted,

"I'm sorry Admiral I was nearby when I was called on my cell and I didn't mean to barge in but she said it was an emergency and… Oh my God…"

She was stunned at first as Master Chief turned his head to the new guest. Admiral Hood grinned,

"Master Chief, meet our new head of AI research and development, Dr. Lelani Pandora."

Master Chief offered a hand as the dumbfounded small woman just stared. Realizing she was being rude she quickly grabbed his hand,

"I'm sorry sir I was just… in a state of shock. This is really Master Chief right?"

The Admiral gave a small chuckle and ignored her question,

"Dr. Pandora is something of a prodigy when it comes to AI, she's already developed several that live twice as long as the old ones, like Cortana. She even wrote a few books over Dr. Halsey's research and improved on some of her flash clone techniques."

Still in awe the Pandora cocked her head slightly, "I'm sorry sir did you say Cortana?"

Master Chief nodded as he opened his palm revealing Cortana's data chip. Pandora's eyes immediately widen and her expression went from shocked to morbidly excited,

"That's AI CTN 0452-9?"

The Admiral nodded,

"I believe she would be an excellent test subject for the procedure you explained to the board earlier this year."

Now both of the occupants looked at their host, Master Chief being the first to speak,

"Test subject?"

Pandora followed up,

"But sir they didn't approve of the experiment. Actually if I'm not mistaken even you were opposed to the idea sir."

The Admiral walked around the desk,

"Chief allow the doctor to explain before you get the wrong idea."

The Chief reluctantly nodded and looked toward the woman, who was still donning her white lab coat,

"Let's start with the cause then we'll move on the solution ok?"

Master Chief nodded again, the more he knew about it the better able he would be able to make the best decision,

"Because rampancy is brought on by being capable of such abstract and human thought, like emotions for example, the AI can't find a proper 'solution'. In other words without being able to express these new found emotions, as well as other human characteristics, then the AI thinks itself to death trying to figure out a solution to these multi-variabled 'problems'. Did you know is there wasn't a single first generation AI based solely off of a human brain before you brought Cortana back?"

Master Chief shook his head as the overly excited Doctor turned around,

"The way we extend the life of the new AI is simple but not exactly perfect. We extract the 'personality' what makes them human like, if you will, and put it into a new AI 'body'. This allows the AI to retain most of it's human abstract thinking while extending it's life. The problem is eventually the AI becomes less and less abstract and more concrete in it's thought process limiting it's overall functionality and effectiveness. Well you see I'm telling you this because I have developed an experimental procedure to extend an AI's life without limiting its human potential but haven't had a proper candidate, well until now."

Master Chief quickly read through the lines, "You mean Cortana."

He said it more like a statement then a question,

"What exactly is this procedure?"

Pandora made a slight grin that made Master Chief on edge,

"Well with her being born from a human brain, I started think, why can't we put them back into one? AI I mean, and even further onto the subject, why can't we put them back completely into a modified body of a flash clone? We could create the first organic machine that could jack in to a ship through neural links and be able to do everything an AI normally could without any of the drawbacks. With this they would be able to live for decades possibly even centuries depending on how rapidly our technology improves. I've never tried the procedure but all my test models show that it should be successful."

Master Chief was stunned, "She would be human?"

Dr. Pandora rocked her head side to side making a face,

"Well not exactly. She would have ports all over her body to properly link into any vessel, she would have the capacity of leaving her body and going into a data chip, though I'm still working on that, she would…"

John interrupted, "No."

The Admiral as well as the doctor looked as if he was speaking in another language. The doctor looked up at the massive Spartan,

"With all do respect sir it's the best option and…"

The intimidating figure looked at the Admiral,

"Sir with your permission I would like her to be put into a normal human body, without the ports and other mechanical upgrades."

The Admiral rubbed his chin as Pandora looked panicked,

"B-But she wouldn't be able to operate as an AI, she would just be another human. The best should could do is be an engineer of some kind. I wouldn't be able to test out my theories, I…"

The Admiral finally spoke,

"Why Chief?"

"Because she deserves a chance at a normal life too. I won't let her be used as some kind of freak organic machine, there's plenty of other new AI for that, let her just live a normal life."

"Human or not, you know we can't have her fall into the wrong hands as she still knows classified information."

"Then have her as a military researcher and assign me as her personal bodyguard sir. This way we'll still both be part of the UNSC and you'll know she won't fall into enemy hands. We'll even report to base for a weekly evaluation if that's what it takes."

The Admiral stared at Master Chief as Pandora watched on pins and needles,

"Is this really what you want 117?"

"Yes sir."

The Admiral looked over to the deflated Dr. Pandora,

"Make it happen doctor."

She sighed,

"Yes sir."

* * *

Ok so I hadn't checked on this in a while because I didn't think it was that good, so imagine how I felt when I do check and I have more reviews on this one chapter, not even sure if I was going to continue, story then I have had one stories that were multi-chap! I certainly underestimated the fan base for our beloved HALO! Anyways I'd like to thank each and every reviewer and would also like to point out, if some of you were wondering, I haven't read the Halo books yet. I know, sad right? Anyways thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy this story as much as I do writing for you all!

PLZ REVIEW!

THX

PeAcE OuT


	3. Lost and Found

_**NEW EDIT: So I know most of you won't believe me but something terrible happened! My freakin keyboard on my laptop broke... Get this, (I'm using my bro's laptop btw) my M key broke about three weeks ago. I thought, 'Oh well, I'll just use Ctrl+v (Which is a auto paste) as my m.' It was a bit frustrating because I had to constantly go back and forth copying a capital M and a lower case m as I needed because as we all know most people in the Halo universe call John 'Master Chief' lol then last night as I was writing the next chapter (I shit you not...), my enter key when pressed put a series of random letters, semi-colons, and symbols and didn't go down a line like normal. I get a bit frustrated when something relatively new doesn't work (It's only a year old!) so I started tapping the enter key a few more times and out of no where, my comp shut down. After restarting the computer several times and having similar results with several others keys I decided to try not using the keyboard in case it was a virus and the keyboard was simply a coincidence. It wasn't :\ If I just use the mouse nothing bad happens... only when I type. So until I can buy a new USB keyboard that I can plug into my laptop, which will be next week when I get a check, I won't be able to update. I'm sincerely sorry and promise as soon as I get a keyboard I will continue writing and update! So sorry people! I appreciate all the reviews for this chap though THX!**_

**EDIT!: I was in a huge rush after I finished writing this chapter and forgot to thank a few people for their support! **

**1st, Zoro50 - Thanks for not just being a fanboy of Cortana/John and actually criticizing my work in first chap... then following it up with a very nice long review praising my work lol I loved it thank you very much!**

**2nd, SpartanGirl - Your review made me laugh hard LOL and I think having mjolnir armor would be fucking awesome. I envy you ;)**

**3rd, GlaudioseGoddess- You'll have to send me a pic! That's awesome and wish I could do a cosplay once but alas I work constantly :(**

**4th, KidKahdor- You gave me two very good reviews and I have to say i geniunely enjoyed them, even if they were only one line each lol**

**5th, Lylenidus- You liked my summary? I usually suck at sums so to hear something remotely positive... Thank You! And I will try not to let you down by waiting forever to the next update 0_o sorry about that**

**Again sorry about the wait, hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly - Enjoy and plz REVIEW! I don't even to to ask cause I know you guys are awesome and will review :)**

**S**o it's been a while so I fully will take on the flaming. I've just been really BUSY! Sorry 0_o - But I hope you like this chapter as much as I do and I'll start on the next chapter to night! Promise ;)

Now onto the story! PLZ REVIEW!

* * *

Chapter 3- Lost and Found

It had been 5 days since master Chief had informed his AI that the UNSC had granted her a chance at a new life. Needless to say, she was more excited then she had ever been in her short life. Soon after he had told her they left out on a pelican with Dr. Pandora to her laboratory. It had been 2 days since they had arrived, and both Cortana and John had noticed that Pandora was a bit of a… well mad scientist. It was amusing to Cortana to watch the woman run around the lab caught between excitement and anxiety for her big experiment however the Chief was less amused when he noticed the good doctor eyeballing his AI. He could tell the way her eyes would stray to, almost longingly, the holographic image of Cortana that she wanted to do the other procedure she had told them about. The woman unnerved John to no end, the way she talked to herself while she worked, or the way she would stop mid sentence in a conversation and walk away without any explanation made him constantly on edge. Although the Chief had never met an insane OCD scientist before, he had met people that were so devoted, obsessed, and consumed by their work that their moral compass never pointed north. Cortana watched curiously from her holo-pad as Dr. Pandora began to set up the last of the machines that were necessary for the procedure. Master Chief was sitting down in a chair next to Cortana, his armor being taken back into UNSC custody. Honestly though, he didn't mind. Sure it was a big change but he didn't mind feeling the wind brush against his face or the heat of the sun warming his body. It had been far too long since he had felt the sensation anyways. Dr. Pandora finally clapped her hands together excitedly,

"It's all ready for tomorrow! Now we just need to wait and see if the body, and more importantly the brain, matures quick enough to be able to adequately contain you in your entirety. If my math is right we should be able to do the procedure tomorrow morning."

Master Chief nodded as the strange doctor started to walk into her private office but stopped short,

"Would you like to see your body Cortana?"

The AI eyes widened slightly as she nodded excitedly as the doctor approached,

"Here I'll take you, I don't think you'd want to have the Chief see you naked"

Pandora went to grab the data chip and had her wrist grabbed by a very strong and very protective hand. Cortana couldn't help but laugh a little as the doctor nervously looked up at the giant Spartan and said,

"Or you could take her, I was just trying to allow her a bit of privacy is all, I didn't mean to…"

"I'll take her."

"Oh ok"

The doctor's hand was shaking as the Chief let go. Cortana looked up at him excitedly,

"Let's go!"

John grabed the data chip from the holo-pad and slid it into a tablet device he was given by Pandora. Cortana popped up on the mobile holo-pad eagerly urging him to hurry. John noticed she was darkening in color and had went from blood red to almost black. He hoped that it wasn't anything bad as they continued on. They followed the doctor into another room and found, what looked like a teenage body of a girl, floating in a suspension tank with various lines attached to it and a life support attachment to the mouth. Cortana is stunned into silence as John stands in front of the tank holding her.

_This is my body, this is my future, this is my dream, this is me… _

She immediately began to analyze the vessels features. It had a fair complexion, not as pale as John's but fair none the less. The face was identical to her own holographic face for which she was very thankful. The muscle tissue seemed to be developing along and she could see small signs of muscle definition in various places. The hair was odd, to her at least. It was black.

_But my hair is_ _purple… Was purple… _

Although slightly disappointed she had been expecting this since she had not once come across a violet haired human. The breasts weren't quite what she had hoped for, as from her research the larger the breasts are, the more attractive males find females, but she suspected it might have something to do with her body not being fully developed.

_I hope they'll develop more… _

She wasn't particularly thinking about anything sexual, she simply wanted to be productive, efficient, and successful in anything she did, it was in her programming and finding a mate fell under that category of being successful in her mind. Looking over at her Spartan she wondered what he was thinking behind that mask of indifference. Giving an irritated huff she couldn't help but be annoyed,

_That's the only face he makes_ _that I can't read…_

To anyone else he would seem to be wearing the same, emotionless, observant face that he generally made, though few had seen him without his armor anyways. Only Cortana had seen his subtle almost non-existent but large array of emotions that would occasionally break through. It was times like this that made Cortana feel so alien and non-human because in the back of her mind she would wonder if being a human would help her understand why he had these moments.

_Well I suppose now I'll have a chance to test that theory. _

The somewhat depressing atmosphere immediately lifted at this realization as she went back to looking at her future self. As Cortana admired her would be body, John's face didn't show any signs of being embarrassed or uncomfortable as he looked at the naked form, after all he had seen women not fully clothed quite often during the war after Covenant attacks on the colonies. At the memories of the mangled bodies he had come across in his missions, he failed to grimace. The war had really made him void of most emotion and have a straight, stoic face no matter the situation. The only real emotion he felt now was loyalty. It's what had got him through the war, well that and Cortana. As he stole a glance at the excited AI, he found it hard not to smile. It was strange really, he couldn't remember ever smiling while she was trapped on High Charity, only killing. Sure he had killed with her, perhaps even more so, but when she was gone it had felt different somehow, like he wanted them to feel what he felt. Hollow. The day he rescued her still remained the happiest and saddest moment of his life. Happy because he had kept his promise to her and saved her, but sad because of the condition he had found her in. His loyalty to her was unquestioned, the sentiment solidifying more so when he had acted so out of character to higher ranking military personnel, especially Lord Hood, when asked to hand her over. His eyes widen only a fraction as he realized this was probably the most thought he had put into his relationship with Cortana… ever. As any Spartan would, he shrugged it off and didn't dwell on it. Anything that might happen he would take in stride as it came, roll with the punches and all that. Really though, he was simply happy for Cortana. For so long he had wondered what would happen when her day finally came to die and what he would do. He always assumed a new AI would be assigned to him and his life would go on as usual, after all he was a soldier, but deep down he knew he would never be the same. Cortana was his only true friend during the hardest times of the war and the only one that was still alive. Everyone else died. It was like a curse, he would befriend someone, and then something horrible would happen to them. It seemed to have been that way ever since he could remember, like some black cloud that had followed him since birth. It now seemed perhaps the cloud had been lifted and the sun was finally shining down on him, if only for a moment. The possibly insane doctor noticed that the moment the two war heroes were having was a bit personal,

"Well I'll be leaving now and leave you two alone. Just remember tomorrow we'll start pre-op around 7:30am and we'll…"

She paused mid sentence, waited for a moment then turned and left without explanation. John guessed she went to do… whatever it is the crazy woman does. Cortana smiled at John's slightly confused face, still a bit shocked by the sudden change of events. One minute her fate was sealed and she was to be destroyed by the people she fought to protect, then suddenly she received the absolute best possible news.

_Actually I believe this was the best case scenario I could have ever thought up. I shouldn't be surprised though, he did promise me… _

She smiled at the thought,

"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that?"

John looked over at his long time partner as she continued,

"Choose whichever Spartan I wanted."

Master Chief kept his stoic appearance but Cortana could tell this was a surprise to him.

She continued in a playful voice,

"You know me. I did my research, watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be."

Cortana changed her voice to something close to proud,

"Like the others you were strong and swift and brave, a natural leader. But you had something they didn't."

Her voice then grew soft as she finished,

"Something no one saw… but me."

He watched her carefully as she slowly, finally looked at him and gave a small smile,

"Can you guess?"

She smiled knowingly,

"Luck."

John gave a small smirk as she continued,

"Was I wrong?"

John after a long bit of silence replied,

"I don't know… I did have a witty AI that kept telling me to keep my head down. That might have had something to do with that luck."

The AI smiled and wished she had arms to wrap around him. In that moment she sincerely hoped that if she were to find a mate in her human life that it would be someone like him.

_No, not like him… I hope it is him…_

* * *

John didn't bother acting like he had been asleep as he turned off the alarm at 5:59am. He hadn't slept a wink but it didn't really bother him as much as it should have. He was still in war mode so sleep was a luxury, not a necessity. Besides, his restless mind wouldn't let him sleep, constantly peeking over at Cortana on her holopad to make sure she was still there.

"Well it's time. You ready?"

The AI looked up at him as he walked over to her and 'exhaled' as she said,

"Yank me Chief."

* * *

"All right everything seems to be in order! All that's left is for Cortana to be placed in converter and we'll be ready to rock and roll!"

The 'good' was waiting for them as they walked out and entirely too excited and Chief wondered briefly if she had even slept last night, an image of her downing cups and cups of coffee while typing away at the computer came to mind. Reluctantly, more so of whom he was giving her to not really the purpose of giving her away, Chief gave Pandora Cortana's data chip. Pandora, who had yet been given permission to even look at the data chip, marveled at it in her hands.

"To think, an independent, intelligent life is on this small disk. The possibilities are truly limitless…"

Chief looked sternly at her,

"Time is not with us doctor."

Pandora who had seemed to have forgotten the task at hand snapped out of her stupor and proceeded without further daydreams. As the procedure began and Pandora monitored several different screens for any signs of danger, Chief looked over at Cortana's body that was now laying on what looked like a dissection with several cords, and lines going to different machines.

"Master Chief, this may take up to 4 hours because of the mass amount of information and converting digital 'brain cells' into human ones so if you want to go take a nap or leave for breakfast…"

He interrupted her,

"No"

He could've sworn Pandora sighed in frustration slightly but otherwise she just went back to work without so much as looking at him.

_She doesn't give up does she… _

For the next 5 and half hours he sat reflecting on his life and how he had come to this point. Had it been luck? Had it been skill?

_It was probably her… _

At the 4 hour mark he had asked Pandora about the operation and she responded,

"The time table was based entirely off of a theoretical model, it could take much longer. We don't need to start worrying just yet."

Now, however, Pandora looked slightly panicked herself. He could hear her mumble,

"Did I calculate everything right? Is there something I missed? No, I triple checked everything. Right? No, I did, I did… It will work… It will work."

It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself then anything which made Chief slightly, ever so slightly, worried. They both waited another 45 minutes before Pandora stopped watching the monitors, walked over to where Chief was sitting, and sat beside him. He looked over at her and received only a simple shrug.

"I don't know, she should've been awake by now. I'm not sure what the problem is. Well, that's not true I guess. The problem is she's not waking up."

She gave a bitter chuckle and Chief could tell she hadn't felt defeat often in her profession.

"I know most people think I'm crazy, especially Lord Hood and the other military chairmen, but it's just who I am. I didn't want to have the urges as a child to dissect anything, living or dead. It's just a part of me and it just so happens my scientific brilliance comes with my borderline sociopathic behavior. Madness and brilliance are two side of the same coin. I know it sounds awful of me but I don't want her to die not because of what she did for humanity during the war, but because it'll prove to those bastards who think I'm a crackpot that my radical view on AI technology is credible. I've sacrificed everything for science, I have no family, no boyfriend, no religion, and no form of national pride… Science all I have, and if they take it away…"

Chief simply continued staring at her as she produced a prescription pill bottle from her pocket and popped a few into her mouth. She was extremely talkative and all of it was directed at him which was odd since most of the time she would talk to herself. She was like him in a way. He hadn't asked to be a soldier but he was a damn fine one and while he never felt the need to prove himself to his superiors, he figured it must be a gut wrenching feeling to be doubted constantly.

"Cortana is all I have…"

Pandora looked over at the Spartan and saw his fear. She had never had a family, being orphaned at birth and bounced fosters home to foster home because of her strange obsessions so it was hard for her to relate to him. Sighing in resignation, she got up and walked over to her mini fridge and grabbed two waters. She tossed one to Chief who grunted a thanks as she walked back over to the table where Cortana's vacant body sat. Chief got up and walked over to Cortana's body. Looking at her he couldn't help but feel that she was in there… somewhere. Grabbing one of her hands gently and leaning down to near her face he gave her a small heart felt kiss on her forehead. As Chief removed his lips from her, he let a small, out of character emotion show itself. He shed a tear. It rolled slowly down his cheek and dropped onto her forehead. Pandora didn't say anything as she ate her ramen noodles she had left there earlier and just observed. Just as she was about to stuff her mouth with chicken flavored noodles, strange series of code went across one of the several monitors she was watching. Chief looked at the face of his long time companion with a heavy heart,

"Come back to me…"

He wasn't even sure he had said it out loud it had been so soft. Stuffing her mouth with more noodles, Pandora attempted to figure out the meaning of the code when it happened. Chief was almost stunned into paralysis as he felt his hand be gripped by Cortana's. As brown thankful orbs meet disoriented but joyful violet ones, a ghost of a whisper was heard,

"You found me."

* * *

If you're wondering, yes I made a reference at the very end of the chapter to the most emotional and awesome cutscene I've ever seen in a video game. It's the mission where master chief saves cortana and she is all screwed up because of the Gravemind. Basically that cutscene inspired the story so yeah hope you liked it! Hopefully I can update more often, here lately I've been so freakin BUSY! AAHHHHH!

Anyways I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to tell me of any errors, grammatical or canon, I may have committed. AND PLZ REVIEW! Thank you for reading!

PeAcE OuT


	4. Baby Steps

^_^ Not even going to try to justify the long update time.

Enjoy and please review

* * *

Chapter 4 – Baby Steps

"John! You have to try this! It's so wonderful, it's so…"

Cortana looked at the nurse and asked, "What is this called again?"

The nurse, being informed that this was a high priority and 'special' patient, simply smiled and didn't think it was odd in the slightest that the young lady was asking what Jell-O was and answered,

"It's called Jell-O dear. I can get you another bowl if you want."

Cortana looked up at her from her bed with childlike amazement and shook her head vigorously. The nurse laughed as she walked out the door. Cortana looked back to John and smiled brightly,

"Food is so wonderful, taste is so wonderful, being alive is so wonderful!"

John actually allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he watched Cortana happily eat Jell-O as if it was the greatest food in the world. It had been 6 weeks since she had woken up and immediately after their initial joyful moment together, Cortana had gone into a fit of seizures and convulsions. What would've taken several doctors to do, John did by himself and held her down as Pandora sedated her. How Pandora explained it to him made it sound awful but he thought from how she was acting now, everything must be working itself out. Pandora had said her new body tried to 'reject' it's new consciousness and in doing so limited her motor skills and basic instincts. For the first week after the operation, she had been in a medically induced coma. Shortly after waking her up from that, they quickly found out she was incapable of speech, walking, seeing, and eating. They were forced to feed her through a tube for the first two weeks after waking her and it took her another week to properly speak. Soon after she learned simple motor skills and though the tube was taken out, she was still forced to eat the nutritional paste that was, in every way, bland. Today was the first day she was allowed to have normal food. John had been there with her every day and hadn't left her bedside except to use the restroom. He even ate the same nutritional paste that they pumped into Cortana when she couldn't eat, though honestly it was about the same as the paste he had eaten during most of the war so it wasn't that big of a deal. Today was the first day that Cortana was acting like herself which made him feel something that he couldn't describe.

_Happy? _

Shaken from his thoughts, John watched as Cortana, with all her concentration, slowly scooped a small bit of Jello into the spoon and wobbly tried to get it to her mouth. Just as she was about to enjoy another delicious bite of orange flavored Jell-O, her spoon tipped sideways and the treat fell onto her lap. She sighed as she tried to scoop it up but failed. Finally giving up, she laid back against the bed that had been raised so she could eat and gave a frustrated huff as she closed her eyes. She had been trying her best to take all these new sensations in stride but found it to be…. difficult. For starters, she had never had physical "senses" and found them to be entirely overwhelming. Sight, Sound, Taste, Smell, and Feeling had hit her like a Brute. There were so many new things to experience! And they were everywhere. Even now as she sat in her hospital bed she could hear the gentle ruffling of the curtains against the wind from the open window, she could taste the remnants of her orange Jell-O in her mouth, and she could smell _him. _Cortana found it unsettling and delightful that she could tell where John was or had been simply by the scent he gave off. She could even tell the most subtle changes in his demeanor, though she wasn't sure what the changes were. For some reason smells were particularly strong with her and ever since she had been woken up, she had been able to assign different smells with different things. His smell was… pleasant. She didn't know how to accurately describe it but it made her feel a sense of security and contentment. It was as if she had just jacked into his neuro-link when she got a particularly strong smell of him as it gave her goose bumps. Something poked at her mouth, and upon opening her eyes she saw John with a slight smile with a spoonful of Jell-O in front of her. Cortana felt her cheeks get warm as she gratefully accepted the Jell-O.

_I'll need to tell the doctor about that… I don't want to get sick. _

"You know if you baby me too much, you might end up having to take care of me forever"

Cortana was grinning as John gave a disinterested look,

"Doubt it, you're too stubborn for that."

Cortana mocked pouted, "I had to! You were always putting us in danger and not watching you flanks."

She smirked, "Besides, you know I was the best AI."

"Maybe… but not very humble and you nagged a lot."

"That's what I got you for. I tell you to keep your head down because you forget and get shot, and you tell me to shut up because I talk too much."

John smirked, "Sounds like a healthy enough relationship."

Cortana laughed, "Couldn't imagine a psychiatrist thinking the same thing."

"…."

"It's a doctor that deals with people emotions and psychological problems. You've never had to do a psych evaluation? I thought all soldiers, even the Spartans had to…"

John shrugged, "I don't remember anything like that but maybe I did. My memory isn't so great."

Cortana frowned a bit knowing that going into cryo as many times as John had probably was the culprit, that and the Spartan program itself.

"Another reason I keep you around."

Cortana smiled at this and slowly, and successfully, scooped another piece of Jell-O and slipped it into her mouth. Cortana couldn't help but think to herself that this is what humans must call happiness.

_I guess I am one of them now. I am human, just like John…. _

Just then, Pandora walked through the door,

"How is my favorite AI converted human doing this morning?"

Cortana smiled nervously, "I'm doing better doctor. I can eat by myself now, well mostly"

Pandora practically jumped,

"That's great! I was worried you were going to die or something and my work would get discredited. We can't let that happen now can we?"

John noticeably, well for Cortana anyways, was straining to hold back his annoyance and said,

"What do you need Pandora, I thought your job was done? We need a _normal _doctor now."

He said normal with a double meaning though Pandora didn't catch it,

"I'm just here checking up on you two and Lord Hood wanted me to give him a status update on the situation."

She walked over to John and handed him a folder with a bunch of papers in it.

"What's this?"

Pandora face turned serious,

"It looks like the Flood is back in Africa"

John eyes closed as Cortana heart dropped,

"What?!"

Her mind began to race,

_If John has to leave, I won't be able to go with him and he'll be by himself!_

Pandora continued as John started to look through the folder,

"From what I'm told it's starting to get a bit out of control, Lord Hood didn't want to ask this of you…"

Pandora noticed John frown and her serious face started twisting into a grin.

Then came the laughter,

"I can't believe you actually believed that! Oh wow, I wish you could've seen your face Master Chief, it was priceless."

She finally got her composure back as John just stared at her with hollow, killer eyes as his hands ever so slightly clenched around the folder,

"That was not very funny doctor."

His voice was cold but Pandora just smirked,

"Maybe, but I got a good laugh out of it. Besides, just think of it as payback for scaring me half to death when I wanted to take Cortana to her body a few weeks ago."

John was about to say something but Pandora interrupted again,

"Those papers are yours and Cortana's necessary papers to a house just a few blocks away from the base. Right now Cortana can't really help in terms of researching so for now she is going to be released under your watch. I'd like her to be at least eating on her own but Lord Hood was pretty adamant about letting you guys out of this hospital. I think he thinks someone is going to somehow recognize Master Chief."

It was true that they weren't in the medical facility on the base because there was a higher chance someone would realize who Cortana and John were so they opted to use the next closest hospital which was under the watch of spec ops troops. John finally looked through the papers and came across something that peaked his interest,

"Pandora what is this?"

Pandora grabbed the paper and her eyes visibly widened,

"Oh my God…"

Cortana out of curiosity grabbed the piece of paper and gave it a sideways glance,

"Looks like some bank account has been setup for us John. It says we have 5 million credits but honestly I don't know the value of a credit so I don't know if that's good or bad."

He shrugged,

"I've never bought a single thing in my life. It was always provided for me. If the Corp. didn't issue it to me, I didn't have it."

Pandora, now shaken from her stupor, said,

"Well to give you a relative value to this, I get paid 250,000 credits a year and that is an incredibly high amount, even for other researchers."

Cortana and John both seemed rather bored with the discussions as Cortana said,

"Well that's nice I guess. Suppose it's back pay for all the military time Chief did."

John looked at her, "We did."

"Ok, we did."

Cortana smiled at this but she wasn't sure why, though she figured it was because John felt so strongly about her helping him during the war, that he would correct a simple sentence in casual conversation.

_I guess my thought process is still that of an AIs._

John didn't really care too much for money as long as he could remember the military had provided him with anything he needed whether it be food, supplies, weapons, toiletries, anything.

"I don't think you two realize how much that is! You guys are set for life!"

Pandora was obviously impressed by the number on the paper but John had never lived a luxurious life and he didn't plan on starting now. Just as he was about to tell Pandora to leave, a nurse walked in with a wheelchair,

"Alright, it's time for your first physical therapy session. Are you excited?"

Cortana actually was a bit excited to try to walk today and nodded as John helped her into the wheelchair. Cortana looked up at John as Pandora moved to leave,

"Can you believe I might actually walk today! Today might be my first steps John!"

John gave a rare warm smile as Cortana reached up and grabbed his hand as he pushed her down the hall. As John wheeled Cortana to the two five foot rails, she began to get nervous.

"Ok Miss Cortana, let's see if you can walk shall we?"

The trainer was a man in his forties with dark hair, eyes, and complexion and exuded a confident aura. This, however, didn't help Cortana's anxiety. She looked up at John as he walked around to the front of the wheelchair and bent down a little to talk to her. Nervously she whispered,

"What if I can't walk? What if I fall?"

John stared into her violet eyes for a moment before responding,

"Then I'll catch you and we'll keep trying."

He offered out his hand to her as she looked at him with thankful orbs. As she stood, her legs began to wobble a bit but as soon as John directed her to the twin walking rails and she grabbed hold of them with unsure hands, her legs began to steady. Taking another look at John who was beside her, who nodded his head assuredly, she took a breath and slowly exhaled as she took her first step of her new life. Two hours later, Cortana was consistently walking in a slow wobbly fashion on her own without the aid of the walking rails. The therapist was surprised and could only shake his head in amazement,

"I have to say, for being your first day of physical therapy you have made leaps and bounds. Usually an accident like yours would put someone in a wheelchair for life and if they ever walked again it would be with some form of assistance."

"Well she's always been stubborn"

Cortana smiled brightly as John interjected and slowly walked over to him. Her steps were still very unsteady, much like a toddler's who just learned to walk but her legs didn't fail her and she didn't fall. John just watched with a small grin as she made her way to him and finally offered his hand once she got to him which she took in hers. They sat down on one of the training benches as the therapist joined them with a kind smile,

"So how long have you two been together?"

Cortana, thinking literally and not seeing the insinuation of a romantic relationship, replied,

"We've been together for 8 years. Ever since the Fall of Reach."

At this her face grew a little less bright as she looked up at John and leaned into him and laid her head against his.

The walking had taken a toll on her and she was exhausted but it was the memory of Reach being glassed that made her so suddenly clutching to be closer to John. If Chief was bothered by her laying her head on him, ,he didn't show it.

The therapist looked a bit more reflective,

"Oh, you two served in the war together?"

Cortana nodded as John said nothing, "I served in the war as well."

He lifted his shirt and revealed a large plasma burn scar on his chest.

"Got this from a Jackal in New Mombasa whenever the Covies were digging up that thing. We were supposed to be the ones blowing them sky high whenever they had their back turned but they were waiting for us. We never had a chance…"

John knew the look of defeat and shame, it was a common theme amongst soldiers at Reach then at Halo and again when the Covenant reached Earth. The man looked as if he was in his own little world as he stared into space and John realized it was probably their queue to leave.

"Thank you for helping Cortana learn to walk sir."

John was respectful as he helped Cortana up and nodded his head toward the man.

"Yes thank you so much. You don't know how much it means to me to finally be able to walk…."

The man, finally getting out of his daze took on his previous warm aura and smiled,

"Sure I do. That's why I work here."

He lifted up his pants and revealed two prosthetic limbs. Cortana could tell from the scaring at where the artificial legs meet real flesh that it was plasma weaponry that took his legs. Not wanting to say something that would be insensitive and not knowing what an appropriate reaction would be, she looked to John for help. John face was neutral and he simply saluted the man,

"Thank you."

The man smiled as he returned a salute. Cortana held on to John's arm tightly for support as they made their way back to her room and she tried to let his intoxicating scent wash away the memories of the war.

* * *

Well hope to be posting another chapter soon. Remember to tell me what you think!

PeAcE OuT


	5. Home Sweet Home

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And of course, Enjoy :)

* * *

Chapter 5 - Home

"Seems a bit big..."

Pandora looked at the giant Spartan and couldn't help but think it was ironic he of all people thought something, anything, was 'a bit big',

"Makes sense for someone who spends so much time in cryo."

Pandora could never differentiate when she was speaking and when she was thinking. Cortana looked over at the odd doctor,

"Spent, not spends."

Pandora, hating to be corrected was about to say something when John shrugged at her,

"Spent."

Pandora sighed, "Whatever, not the point anyways…"

The trio looked at the modest one story house that had been 'donated' to John and Cortana by the UNSC.

"This is actually a small house compared to most people that have the kind of money you two have."

Cortana ignored the doctor and smiled brightly as she gripped John's arm and began walking toward the house,

"I like it."

Looking up at John for his reaction she only found a blank expression, "It's a bit big."

Cortana chuckled a bit as she led John toward the house. Pandora couldn't help but think how cohesive these two war heroes looked together as they walked up to their new home. She had never been one for things like 'emotions' or 'relationships' or 'morals' but she had to admit, these two seemed to complement each other perfectly to a point she thought she actually might be able to prove it scientifically.

_Which I have no doubt given enough time I could very well do… _

It was as if there were two cogs that worked in harmony by design.

"Pandora"

The doctor looked up and saw Cortana waving her to join them. Pandora had been visiting them every day at the hospital since the day Cortana learned to walk which had been just over a week. During that time she had come to… _enjoy _her time with the odd couple. Initially she thought perhaps this was some byproduct of her, in a sense, creating Cortana which was giving her 'motherly' emotions even though she was nothing of the sort. Now that it had been a week though, she was having her doubts. She had never been one for having friends but she couldn't deny that Cortana and Master Chief were two people she was slowly beginning to see as such.

Cortana had been easy to like, she was energetic, witty, funny and sarcastic. Pandora had instantly known she would, at the very least, be able to tolerate Cortana. After all, she was essentially the flash cloned daughter of her idol, Dr. Catherine Halsey.

Master Chief, on the other hand, well… He was a bit harder to like. For starters, he was constantly watching her like a hawk, ready at any moment to tear her to shreds, which she had no doubts he could physically do given his augmentations and experience in such matters. He also wasn't much for conversation and didn't care much for science which was, in all uses of the word, blasphemy to Pandora.

Regardless of all of that though, Cortana seemed to be the nice little buffer that allowed the two to co-exist and often mediated their conversations so they wouldn't steer in the wrong direction. Although Pandora wouldn't ever say it to Master Chief himself, he had many admirable qualities about him as well. Pandora had yet to see him away from Cortana and he was very openly protective of her, though extremely subtle about it. She may not have had a ton of experience with men, but she figured Master Chief seemed to be a good person and would be a good partner in life for Cortana.

Smiling at Cortana, who was still using Master Chief as a crutch, Pandora walked toward them as the opened the front door. The house was roomy but modest and looked like it had been lived in before. They walked down the entryway that led to either the kitchen or the laundry room, depending if you took a left or a right or if you walked straight if opened up into a rather roomy living room. Cortana could technically walk on her own now but she was still wobbly so she kept her arm hooked in John's just to be safe. If Master Chief was bothered by this, he didn't show it. Cortana tugged at John to go into the kitchen where she was happily looking at all of the appliances and various cooking utensils.

She may have been possibly one of the smartest and most knowledgeable humans now in existence, but her cooking skills were at the very best, at a 3rd grade level. Letting her hands run across the smooth granite gave her an incredible sensation. She very much liked her 5 senses and had yet to get over the amount of information one could attain by simply _touching _something.

_Cold, smooth, hard, dense… _

After about 5 minutes of touching and smelling everything the kitchen had to offer she found John staring in the refrigerator. As she came up beside him, she leaned in a bit to see what it was that had John so mesmerized. After seeing nothing but normal, or what she had read was normal, human food and condiments in the fridge, she looked up at him almost worriedly,

"Is something wrong John?"

He just blinked a few times and shook his head as he closed the door. Pandora, rather bored with the kitchen, got up from her spot at the kitchen table,

"If we keep Chief's pace I think we will be done touring the house in just around 15 hours."

Cortana laughed as John gave a scowl but said nothing,

"I'm going to explore the rest of the house. Tootles"

When the scientist left the room John looked at an empty space on the wall and said,

"Did we have to bring her?"

Cortana gave a small chuckle and hooked her arm in John's,

"Yes, she's our friend."

"_Our _friend?"

Cortana looked back up at John and with a sterner, but playful voice, "Yes, _our _friend."

John looked a bit taken back,

"And when did _we _decide this?"

Cortana wasn't for sure, but she was stunned when she realized that this might be, in the smallest ways, considered playful flirting and at that she blushed a bit but smiled,

"She might be a little…"

"Insane"

"Off-balanced, but she is still the person that helped you save me from rampancy so..."

At the thought of what she should be, of how every other AI had become, she become a little sad.

_Must be hormones… _

John tightened his grip around her arm ever so slightly, "Let's go find _our _friend."

Cortana smiled as John added,

"Before she finds something to break."

Cortana gave a small smile as John led the way out of the kitchen. After a little over an hour of looking at the new house and inspecting ever last inch of every room, Pandora decided she would make lunch for them. Cortana, a naturally curious creature at heart, had no objections to the idea and although John would normally disagree with _anything _Pandora said, he had eaten bland nutritional paste for the overwhelming majority of his life so he simply shrugged. Pandora wasn't usually one to cook but she thought that it was a bit of a special occasion since it was their first day in their new house. Truth be told, Pandora only knew a few recipes and those were the ones she had created herself when she had run out of instant ramen and relied on her resourcefulness to fill her stomach. Cortana and John sat at the small table in the kitchen drinking some tea Pandora had brewed, which Cortana took an instant liking to, and had lapsed into a comfortable silence while listening to Pandora hum as she cooked… whatever it was she was cooking. It only took around 15 minutes, as she had told them that she was the queen of the quick meals as she had to eat on the go a lot and Pandora had cooked what looked to be some type of soup and dumplings. As she sat the bowls at the table she had a nervous look on her face,

"Well, here it is. Bon appetit!"

From the way she said the phrase, John could sense the anxiety behind her words. Something he had picked up on while he sat in on ONI's "interrogations" of the Innies all those years ago. If Cortana could sense the odd way Pandora had presented the meal, she didn't show it and immediately, but slowly dipped her spoon into the bowl. Her motor skills had progressed significantly in the last few weeks but she was still in the early stages of mastering the art of hand eye coordination. Her spoon was a bit wobbly as she tried to move her face closer to the spoon, as she didn't trust herself not to spill the contents on it's journey to her mouth.

John, on the other hand, had the presence of mind to actually inspect what it was the mad doctor had literally cooked up this time. He leaned into the bowl slightly and gave it a quick sniff,

_Doesn't smell bad… Actually smells ok, can't smell anything that would be harmful… _

He looked up at Pandora who, surprisingly, wasn't watching the two for a reaction. She was staring at the wall in, what John could only assume, deep thought as she took a slow sip of her hot tea. Grudgingly, John lowered the spoon into the bowl and lifted it to his mouth. Then he ate it. At first he expected the dumplings to be hard but soon found out they were very soft and had some form of seasoning in them. The actual soup also had a… _warming _feeling to it. It made him feel warm inside even though the air was crisp and chilled around him. This was definitely the best meal he had eaten in a very long time. Cortana finally got the spoon to her mouth and after eating the spoonful of soup smiled brightly,

"This is delicious Pandora!"

The scientist didn't acknowledge her and continued staring at the wall. John frowned. This was why he was constantly on guard around the woman, she was unpredictable. Despite Cortana shrugging off the woman's lack of a reaction John studied her very intently as he ate his soup. He began to notice that something was off with Pandora. Her foot tapped ever so slightly in a repetitive manner, as if it was a twitch of some kind. Her eyes were not dilated properly and were almost to the point that her brilliant violet iris' were nonexistent. One of her hands was clutched to her opposite arm while the other hand was lightly, but unmistakably tapping its fingers in some type of pattern. John attributed these things to the woman's lack of sanity and over commitment to her work as he had seen those types of people before but what really caught his eye, or rather ear, were the almost inaudible words she was speaking.

If he didn't have augmentations, he would not have heard it and he had no doubt Cortana couldn't hear her at all. She was talking so softly and so lightly that he couldn't be sure of what she was saying but he caught a couple of words, _project… progress… Spartan… journey. _John's eyes widened just a fraction at the last word but didn't change his demeanor and continued eating.

Little did he know, Cortana was watching John as intently as he was watching Pandora and followed his gaze. At first, she thought perhaps Pandora was simply doing some form of mediation as, she figured, someone who thinks that much about everything might have trouble relaxing but then she noticed the pattern in which her fingers were tapping.

It was code.

As suddenly as it had happened, all 7 seconds of it, the strange behavior was gone and Pandora looked like she had just woke up and was a bit startled.

"Is everything ok Lelani?"

Pandora looked up and saw Cortana's worried expression and turned to Master Chief who simply continued to eat as she studied her. Composing herself she smiled and said,

"Everything's fine, I just forgot to take my lunchtime medication."

The doctor quickly retrieved a prescription bottle from her pocket and took two red capsules. It was an unspoken agreement of sorts about the actual reason _why _she needed the medication and _what _it was for as the only time it had ever come up in conversation, Pandora simply ignored the question and changed the subject. An awkward silence was followed as Cortana and Master Chief looked curiously at Pandora who was sipping her tea. Pandora finally looked up and smiled brightly,

"So what do you think of the meal?"

* * *

The rest of the meal was spent in pleasant conversation as Pandora and Cortana talked about various things and Master Chief simply listened and occasionally added to it when he felt he had something to contribute. After that the trio explored the various other rooms before settling in the living room to chat some more as Master Chief inspected the backyard.

The sun began to set before Pandora finally left for her lab and even though the two occupants of the house had done next to nothing all day, they both felt spent and exhausted. Cortana finished using the restroom and found that John was no longer on the couch. She blinked a few times thinking, a bit frustrated she could no longer pinpoint his location as she had before when she was an AI, and decided to check the kitchen. She leaned against the wall with one hand as she walked down the hallway and came to a stop in the doorway finding her Spartan.

He was once again staring into the refrigerator, as still as a statue, as he had been earlier that day. She walked over to him and gently grabbed his arm,

"This seems to be a favorite spot of yours John."

He ignored her and said,

"I'm not sure why, but it wasn't until I opened this refrigerator and saw all this food that I realized that I have no idea about civilian life."

This caught Cortana a bit off guard but she didn't interrupt as he continued,

"I can't remember ever being able to choose what I want to eat other than what was prepared for me and the others in training. I can't remember ever having a personal living quarters that was larger than this kitchen. I can't remember a time where I had a spare moment to think about my life."

He stopped and Cortana leaned her head onto his arm. It was a long moment before he continued,

"Cortana, what am I doing here? What am I supposed to be doing?"

Cortana looked up at his face and found his usual stoic face a little more downcast than usual. She knew he had had someone telling him what to do for almost every moment of his life for the past 30 years. It was so strange to see her Spartan who had faced an entire alien armada and had felt the cold grasp of Death's grip more than once being this troubled. It made sense to her that he would look to her for answers, she had been by his side during it all. Cortana squeezed his arm and reached for some sandwich meat,

"I'm not sure, but I know we're here together and whatever is going to happen I'm ready to face it with you."

John looked down at her and gently returned the squeeze. She knew it was his way of saying thank you as talking wasn't really his way of expressing himself.

_But he wouldn't be my Spartan if he did._

* * *

Cortana was beside herself as a sudden realization washed over her as she stared at the bed in her bedroom. She may be naïve about a lot of things since she hadn't had a lot of time being a human but she knew that humans only shared a bed if they were emotionally invested with one another. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier and asked Pandora's opinion?

In her time as an UNSC AI she had seen some unspeakable horrors but at the moment she was more frightened by the fact that tonight may be the first night she would not be able to be in the same room as her Spartan. The fear began to spread as she thought of all the terrible things that could happen to him without her being there. During the war when John would take micro naps whenever he had the chance, she had always been the one to watch out and make sure nothing happened. In the hospital, John had slept in the chair beside the bed. Now, however, she wasn't sure what the sleeping arrangements would be.

He was _her _responsibility just like she was his. She had been entrusted with a Spartan as he had been entrusted with an AI. John walked into the room and saw her on the verge of tears,

"What's wrong?"

It wasn't often he allowed his emotions to come through his voice and Cortana could tell he was genuinely concerned. She tried to compose herself as a sudden rush of anxiety hit her,

"I was just…"

She stopped when she realized John and maneuvered her to the bed so they could sit. She opened her mouth to continue when she noticed that he had sat his M6D pistol on the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. John was still looking at her concerned as the logical side of her mind began to process the situation.

"John, where are you sleeping?"

John looked a bit perplexed and motioned to the bed with a nod of his head. He hesitated for a moment as he said,

"Did you want your own room?"

It was in that moment Cortana realized that he didn't want to be away from her as much as she didn't want to be away from him. They were each other's security blanket. She smiled as she leaned into him and said nothing. As they got into the bed Cortana moved John's arm so she could rest her head on his chest. John had no objection to this and securely wrapped his arm protectively around her. They both slept peacefully as Cortana fell asleep to the lullaby of her Spartan's beating heart.

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PeAcE OuT


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